Suspects in deadly shooting of 10-year-old boy, 21-year-old woman in New Jersey urged to surrender

(NEWARK, N.J.) — Officials are urging the suspects involved in the deadly shooting of a 10-year-old boy and a 21-year-old woman in New Jersey over the weekend to turn themselves in for committing the “heinous crime.”

“What you did was cowardly, heartless and unforgivable. You prove nothing but your own weakness,” Essex County Sheriff Amir Jones said during a press conference on Monday. “We are coming, there is no hiding, there is no running. There is no corner of this county that will keep you hidden. Turn yourselves in before we come knocking on your door.”

At approximately 7 p.m. on Saturday, police received reports of multiple shots fired in Newark’s South Ward, officials said. A total of five people were injured in the shooting, with two of them later pronounced dead at a local hospital, officials said.

The victims were identified as 10-year-old Jordan Garcia and 21-year-old Kia Mae Scott, according to New York ABC station WABC.

“To hear the yelling and the wailing of those mothers in the hospital is something that I will never forget,” Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda said on Monday.

An 11-year-old boy, who is Garcia’s brother, was also injured in the shooting, but is in stable condition, officials said.

The two others injured in the shooting, a 60-year-old and a 19-year-old, remain in the hospital, with the 19-year-old in critical condition, officials said.

As of Monday morning, no suspects have been arrested in connection to the shooting, officials said.

“The best thing for them to do is turn themselves in immediately. The entire community is on alert. There is nothing that you can say or do that would justify a 10-year-old losing his life. The community is on alert and on lookout and we’ll make sure that justice is done in this community,” Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka said on Monday.

A $10,000 reward is currently available for any information that leads to an arrest, Jones said, calling the shooting an “attack on everything this city and county stands for.”

Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said the shooting goes “against the trend of downward crime” in the county and the city of Newark, which makes the incident more “vexing” and “difficult.” Stephens said there has been more than a 50% decrease in homicides in Newark this year compared to 2021.

There were 49 murders in 2022 year-to-date, with the number dropping to 46 in 2023, 37 in 2024 and 21 so far this year, according to data from the Newark Department of Public Safety.

A motive for the shooting and whether there were multiple suspects involved was not revealed on Monday.

Officials said they have obtained video surveillance from the night of the shooting and are continuing to canvas the area to find “as much as possible.”

Anyone with information on the shooting is encouraged to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-877-TIPS-4EC.

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